Apocryphal
by sorenalice
Summary: A ghost cannot live in a ghost hunter's home.


**Apocryphal**

_Okay, so this is based off of Phantommustangrider's beautiful fic idea that I just had to write. Thank you to all reviewers, readers, favoriters and followers, I appreciate all of you. Thank you very much for reading and I hope you enjoy._

Danny walked into his home with a smile on his face. He'd aced a test earlier that day and got free hot chocolate from some charity club. There had only been two ghost attacks, and his parents took care of them both. He'd been able to stay in school all day without any interruptions for the first time in almost a year.

On top of that, as a long term cause of happiness, his parents found out about his ghost half, and they accepted him. He was nearly knocked unconscious by Bertrand in a ghost fight with his parents standing twenty feet away. They were actually surprisingly cool about finding out their son is a ghost. Lots of parents would've screamed and left, but Maddie and Jack smiled and hugged him, accepting him despite their prejudices.

Danny kicked off his shoes and slid into the kitchen on his socks, swinging open the fridge door and scanning the shelves. He grabbed an apple and bit into it, slipping away on his socks again.

He passed by the door to the lab and heard the clang of metal and the whirring of electricity. He hopped down the stairwell, taking each step two stairs at a time.

When he finally reached the bottom, the chilled metallic smell of the basement wafted into his nose, tickling his senses. He saw his parents hunched over a lab table, hard at work, scribbling something into some blueprints.

"Whatcha workin' on?" his father sighed and looked up at him.

"A ghost weapon." Danny waited a moment, expecting an explanation like always.

"What kind of ghost weapon?" he prompted, an eyebrow raised at their odd behavior.

They didn't say anything for a few minutes, Danny thought perhaps they didn't hear him and he should ask again, until his father finally responded.

"Something to fix you, Danny-boy." Danny's face fell.

"W-what do you mean _fix _me?"

"We mean fic you, Danny. You're a ghost, are you telling me you don't want to be human again?"  
"I am human!" Danny shouted, backing away from the lab table.

"No, sweetie, you're _half_ human. That's not right, sweetie. We'll make you whole again. Don't worry." his mother's voice was almost too sweet.

"Mom, the ectoplasm keeps me alive. I half died in the portal, if it gets taken out, I'll die all the way. Besides, who else would keep the city safe?"  
"There's no medical proof of tha-"  
"Yes, there is, Mom. I have this friend, Frostbite, he's got a medical facility and takes care of me when I'm sick or injured and can't go to a normal human doctor. According to him, it would be suicide."

But wouldn't you like to be able to go to a human doctor? You wouldn't have to make friends with ghosts." I stared at my mother incredulously.

"_I'm_ a ghost, in case you haven't forgotten."

"Not for long," Dad cut in, his face grim.

"No, I'm not doing this. You can't do this!"

"Daniel, we can and we will do this. Let it go."  
"Why are you so bent on killing half of me?"

"Because a ghost cannot be living in a ghost hunters' home."

Danny stared at Maddie, his body shaking and his eyes wide and watering. Tears streamed out of his clouded blue eyes and dripped on the cold, hard cement floor. Time seemed to stop and the winter that normally resided in his chest seemed to melt, leaving the cold running in his veins.

Maddie's eyes widened and her eyebrows creased, her face growing into a look of apology and regret. She opened her mouth to apologize, but she was cut off.

"Okay." was all Danny said before he changed into his ghost form and flew through the ceiling of the lab and out into the clear blue sky.

He flew as fast as he could as far as he could, until he came tumbling down into a small field in the middle of nowhere, sparse trees and tall wheat growing in rows. Danny took a deep, shuddering breath and wailed.

He was left gasping for breath, nearly unconscious in the field. He wept, curling himself into a little ball and laying on his side.

What would be the point of going back there? It wasn't like he was welcome, but he did need some stuff.

-X-

"Danny threw his full duffel bag over his shoulder. He'd packed food, clothes, blankets,matches, a flashlight and a wad of cash.

He looked back at the room that had once been his, his eyes lingering on the rumpled note on his bed.

He sighed deeply, and flew through the window, leaving his life behind.

-X-

"He just needs some time to cool off, Mads. We'll see him tomorrow." Maddie nodded and wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"W-we will. We will. Let's get back to work." She turned abruptly back to the messy papers on the table behind her and picked up a pencil with a quivering hand.

_He'll be back_, she reasoned with herself, _let's get this done._

-X-

Maddie stretched out on her bed, grunting as bones cracked back into place. Her first thought was of her son. She hadn't heard him return last night, but with him being a ghost, it didn't mean much.

She slid out from underneath her covers and onto the cold wooden floor. Her feet padded on the ground, making small patting noises with each step.

She lumbered out of her bedroom and out into the hallway. Danny and Jazz would need to be woken up for school. They never got up themselves. Jazz, sometimes, but if nobody went into Danny's room and threatened him, he'd sleep 'til noon.

She knocked on Jazz's door and opened it, "Jazz, time to get up!" seeing her daughter rise out of bed like the Frankenstein Monster, she smiled and walked out of her room.

She made her way to the end of the hallway and stopped. What if what she'd said last night affected their relationship? Maddie berated herself again for even thinking about Danny's inhumanity outweighing his humanity. She'd done something horrible to him, and she would have to make it up to him.

She wasn't too worried about not being forgiven. Danny always forgave everyone, no matter what they did.

Maddie knocked on Danny's door and she barged inside, the cool door handle spinning in her hand.

When she got inside, she saw nothing.

The room was sparse, missing the things that made the room seem lived in. Either Danny had already left for some reason, or he hadn't come home last night.

Maddie shook her head. Maybe he was just at Sam or Tucker's, simmering in his anger.

Maddie was about to walk out of the room and call them, but something on his bed stopped her. A small, wrinkled note laid on the messy sheets, Danny's boyish scrawl barely legible. Maddie picked it up with shaking hands and started to read.

_Maddie, and Jack,_

_I have come to the conclusion that you do not care for me as you once did. I am too much of a ghost for any ghost hunters to love. I can see that now. _

_You want your son, but you do not want a ghost. Unfortunately, I am both, I need to be both in order to survive, and I am not willing to sacrifice my life for your love._

_You can't have the best of both- a son and no ghost, because, like it or not, I am both._

_Have a nice life, _

_Danny_

Maddie's breath caught in her throat. Her chest contracted painfully and it felt like a thick, black liquid was poured down the center of her chest, rotting it from the inside.

**She sobbed and wept for the son she had lost.**


End file.
